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Control4, Cisco Strike Partnership

Cisco and Control4 have entered into an agreement in which Cisco will invest in Control4, use Control4 technology in Smart Grid infrastructure and services that it will sell to utilities, and sell Cisco-branded and Control4-branded products. Control4's deal w

Cisco and Control4 have entered into an agreement in which Cisco will invest in Control4, use Control4 technology in Smart Grid infrastructure and services that it will sell to utilities, and sell Cisco-branded and Control4-branded products.

Control4’s deal with Cisco will open up opportunities for custom integrators who could later add onto a basic Cisco Smart Grid EMS 100 energy-management system.

Under the global agreement, Cisco will sell products through its value-added resellers (VARs) into homes in conjunction with utilities’ deployment of Cisco’s Smart Grid technologies, which are designed to reduce energy consumption. Cisco also will sell products through its VARs to developers of so-called greenfield cities, built on the outskirts of existing cities usually outside the U.S.

In both channels, VARs would sell products to control energy use as well as automate and control lighting, entertainment, communication, and security systems. As a broad rule, control systems would be Cisco-branded, and peripherals such as lighting-control systems would be Control4-branded.

The deal provides Control4 with additional resources as well as worldwide distribution channels that “will expand our reach dramatically” by “leveraging the Control4 platform to every single home in these communities,” said Control4 CEO Will West. The deal will also open up opportunities for custom integrators who could later add onto a basic Cisco Smart Grid EMS 100 energy-management system, he said.